Identifying Prehistoric Activity Areas: Analysis of Temporal and Functional Variability Among Dolores Area Structures A.D. 575-900

摘要

The study identifies and characterizes 172 prehistoric activity areas from nine Anasazi period sites dating to the Basketmaker-Pueblo transition in and around pithouses and surface rooms for prehistoric Anasazi period sites within the Dolores Valley area, southwest Colorado. The objectives of the study was to examine the concept of the 'proto-kiva' and the proposition that increasing population leads to increasing social differentiation. The importance of the activity area study is that the Basketmaker-Pueblo transition was a time when major architectural and community organizational changes occurred among the Anasazi. Four broad groups of activity areas were observed: domestic, tool manufacture, storage, and 'other'. The study evaluates the Dolores Archaeological Program methods for identifying, recording, and interpreting activity area data, and suggests refinements in the definitional criteria of the activity area types as they are now used.